Jerry Yang: I was my favorite Yahoo! CEO

One of my favorite interviews we’ve done was with Yahoo! Co-Founder Jerry Yang. Not just because of what he’s done, but because of the time we did it.

There are a lot of interesting moments in history to interview Yang– ours was just after Alibaba went public in the largest global IPO in tech history.

This was a massive vindication for Yang, who originally brought the deal to Yahoo!, and argued against Yahoo! selling half of its stake off years later. He needed the vindication: Yang was supposed to be the Steve Jobs founder hero coming in to save Yahoo! back in 2008. He initially turned down a $40 billion acquisition by Microsoft,
was eventually ousted as CEO, and Yahoo!’s long slide continued... [ Pando ]

A cryptocurrency startup is investing cryptocurrency in a cryptocurrency fund that invests in other cryptocurrency startups

As the world of investing in cryptocurrencies grows more interwoven and sophisticated, expect to see more stories like this: Ripple, the company behind the digital currency XRP, said Wednesday that it would invest $25 million in one of the leading venture capital funds that specializes in blockchain-related deals, Blockchain Capital. [ Recode ]

TravelPerk grabs $21M to make booking business trips suck less

TravelPerk, a Barcelona-based SaaS startup that’s built an end-to-end business travel platform, has closed a $21 million Series B round, led by Berlin-based Target Global and London’s Felix Capital. Earlier investors Spark Capital and Sunstone also participated in the round, alongside new investor Amplo. [ Tech Crunch ]

Sequoia and Lightspeed's seed bets on Snap and Dropbox brought in billions

In the era of SoftBank, it's easy to brush aside $500,000 rounds. But seed financings, like those that got companies including Uber and Snap off the ground, remain an essential
part of the evolving venture lifecycle. For a founder, seed deals can be the difference between operating a company out of a parent's basement and securing actual office space. For an investor, the right bet—no matter how small—can lead to a billion-dollar payout.

At Afore Capital's inaugural pre-seed summit Tuesday, a panel of early-stage investors from Sequoia, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Fika Ventures, Pear VC and Freestyle Capital gathered in front of a small audience to discuss the role of seed investing and recent changes to the early-stage investing landscape. [ PitchBook ]

Uber users will be able to book e-bikes, buy public transit tickets and rent a car via the Uber app — and it’s all part of a bigger plan

Uber isn’t just a ride-hailing service anymore — or at least the company is trying not to be. Today, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced that the company would soon allow customers to buy public transit tickets and rent a car in Uber’s app, via a series of partnerships.

Uber has long billed itself as much more than a ride-hailing service. But this signals the next big step in its evolution into a broader transportation platform. Uber wants to own a piece of
every trip that happens in cities, from e-bikes to public transit — even if it’s not an Uber-operated service. [ Re/Code ]

Revolut, the payments startup, will see its valuation jump five times to $1.4 billion after a financing round led by DST

The valuation of Revolut, an international payments startup, is set to quintuple in less than a year due to a new fundraising round, according to people familiar with the matter.

DST Global, an investing firm founded by Russian venture capitalist Yuri Milner, is expected to lead a round that values the company at about $1.4 billion, not including the new cash, the people said. Revolut has been pitching investors in recent months on a deal that would raise about $150 million, but
the total amount collected could now climb to $250 million. The round is not yet closed. [ Re/Code ]

Bloglovin’ becomes Activate and names Kamiu Lee as its new CEO

In Q1 2018, Austin Carries Texas In Dollars Raised And Deals Made

Real Estate Community Backs Knotel in $70 Million Series B Round

Coca-Cola Amatil partners with BlueChilli to launch accelerator program Xcelerate

Theranos reportedly lays off most of its remaining employees as it tries to avoid bankruptcy